• Winner of 2010 Chicago Tribune Heartland Prize for Nonfiction
• Winner of 2010 Wellcome Trust Book Prize
• Winner of the American Association for the Advancement of Science’s Young Adult Science Book Award
• Winner of Goodreads.com Readers Choice Award for Best Debut Author and Best Nonfiction Book of the Year
• Winner of BookBrowse.com Diamond Award for Best Book
• Winner of 2011 Puddly Award for Nonfiction
• Winner of 2010 Indie Lit Award for Nonfiction
• Winner of 2011 Medical Journalists’ Association Open Book Award for General Readership Nonfiction
• Winner of 2011 Ambassador Book Award for American Studies
• Winner of 2011 Audie Award for Best Nonfiction Audiobook

Selected for More than Sixty Best of the Year Lists, Including:

• New York Times Notable Book
• Entertainment Weekly #1 Nonfiction Book of the Year
• New Yorker Reviewers’ Favorite
• American Library Association Notable Book
• People Top Ten Book of the Year
• Washington Post Book World Top Ten Book of the Year
• Salon Best Book of the Year
• USA Today Ten Books We Loved Reading
• O, The Oprah Magazine Top Ten Books of the Year
• National Public Radio Best of the Bestsellers
• Boston Globe Best Nonfiction Book of the Year
• Financial Times Nonfiction Favorite
• Library Journal Best Sci-Tech Book
• Los Angeles Times Critics’ Pick
• Bloomberg Top Nonfiction
• New York Magazine Top Ten Book of the Year for 2010
• Slate Favorite Book of the Year
• TheRoot.com Top Ten Book of the Year
• Discover magazine 2010 Must-Read
• Publishers Weekly Best Book of the Year
• Kirkus Reviews Best Nonfiction Book of the Year
• Publishers Lunch Best of the Best Books of 2010
• U.S. News & World Report Top Debate-Worthy Book
• Booklist Top of the List—Best Nonfiction Book
• Library Journal Best Sci-Tech Book
• New Scientist/CultureLab Best Book of the Year
• Daily Beast Best of the Best Books of the Year